Silversun Pickups – Pikul

• 18th Nov 2007

Right from the outset, Los Angeles’ Silversun Pickups show that they possess an ability to create mystery. ‘Kissing Families’, uses fat strings to beef up the accompaniment and draws out their festering ambivalence.They have a certain distance from the listener much like The Dears that makes them intriguing and mysterious. A sultry vocal tandem featuring Brian Augur and Nikki Manninger (bass), dissects the heart of family love. The earthy and impassioned stance of the male vocal element is cunningly deployed to contrast with the subtle strokes of Manninger. Then her piercing and punctuating bass-lines give ‘Come Back Kid’ some balls, emboldening the ambience.

An eerie noire element seeps out through ‘The Fuzz’, as Augur’s vocals take on a slow troubling gait and momentum builds perfectly like the unravelling of a film plot. This time the conclusion is a fat, earthy bass kick provided by the talented Manninger. Who turns in a tingling vocal performance in ‘Creation Lake’, as this rumbling ode is all the more effective for its simplicity. That is, given the depth and off-kilter range on the rest of this EP which was originally released in 2004.

‘All The Go Betweens’ displays a mood bending twist and Augur provides the sparse, but effective vocals that rise out of a sullen pit, showering astrological mystery down with impunity. Nick Manninger’s bass takes over as the epic song grows and you feel like you’re being crushed by a musical meteorite. It is of little wonder that America has wanted to keep these a secret, just like they did with The Sonic Youth for a long as they could.